Key takeaways from the DfE’s Education Estates Strategy

The Department for Education (DfE) has recently published its Education Estates Strategy, setting out an ambitious 10-year plan to renew and improve school estates across England.

The strategy responds to what the government describes as years of underinvestment that have left too many children learning in deteriorating buildings. It marks a shift from reactive repair to proactive estate management, long-term strategic maintenance and renewal.

It’s structured around three pillars:

1. Managing the school estate through clearer standards and a new digital service, Manage Your Education Estate
2. Improving and renewing buildings through increased maintenance funding and a new £710m Renewal and Retrofit Programme
3. Building and rebuilding where necessary, including the permanent removal of all reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) by 2029.

Climate resilience features prominently, with 32% of schools currently reporting overheating and 38% of secondary school buildings at high risk of surface water flooding. The strategy also commits at least £3.7bn in high-needs capital to create 60,000 specialist SEND places, alongside measures to make mainstream settings more inclusive and accessible.

Further investment targets school-based nurseries (£400m), digital connectivity (£325m) and post-16 capacity (£395m).

Around 2,800 ‘responsible bodies’ – including academy trusts, local authorities and FE colleges – will be central to delivery, supported by new data-sharing arrangements, common digital standards and clearer estate management expectations.

Responsible bodies are encouraged to collect data to identify, among other things, under-used space and energy consumption, and to explore opportunities to repurpose rather than replace.

Case studies

• The Discovery Trust – described as a family of 18 schools across three local authorities, which converted surplus rooms and low-use areas into preschool rooms, wraparound care hubs and venues for Discovery Holiday Camps. The community impact has been significant, with schools becoming neighbourhood hubs extensively used by Scouts, sports clubs and local groups. Families report feeling more connected to their schools and children benefit from consistent routines, safe environments and wider opportunities. The broader community use is expected to generate £1.1m a year without capital expansion costs
• Hiltingbury Junior School – this 1960s school building, which had overheating issues, was re-cladded with structural timber replacement external envelope. This came to a third of the cost of a rebuild. With rooftop PVs, the heating load has reduced sufficiently to enable a future replacement of the school’s gas boiler with a ground source heat pump
• Goldsmith Primary Academy, part of Windsor Academy Trust – the academy has reduced energy use through digital learning and the installation of solar panels, contributing to more than £200,000 saved in energy costs
• Bartley C of E Junior School – the school identified surplus accommodation and repurposed it to meet the growing need for specialist support. By creating a 12-place resourced provision for pupils with SEMH needs within a mainstream setting, it delivered a self-contained annex with specialist teaching and wellbeing spaces, a secure external play area and independent access for drop-off and pick-up. Connecting the annex to the main school enables a hybrid offer of flexible support, with spaces designed to promote sensory regulation, flexibility and inclusion so pupils can thrive while remaining part of the wider school community
• St Stephen’s RC Primary – with increasing numbers of SEND pupils and insufficient classroom provision, the school repurposed surplus space into a dedicated SEND classroom, located in a quiet part of the school with direct outdoor access and its own entrance for calmer drop-offs and pick-ups.

What’s next?

Alongside further guidance and a new digital service to act as a central resource for estates guidance, data, tools, programmes and funding – and to enable clearer communication with the DfE – responsible bodies will be required to make a ‘light touch’ annual return from autumn 2026 on how they are meeting the School Estate Management Standards.

For those not meeting the standards, an estate management capability support plan will be put in place. This is an informal agreement with the responsible body, setting out actions and support needed to reach the required standard within a year.

Finally, the DfE intends to develop a decision-making framework by the autumn, governing the use of school space – particularly in light of demographic change and the fall in birth rates. It plans to pilot the flexible use of surplus space in partnership with Best Start Family Hubs, housing, neighbourhood health services and youth centres to meet wider community needs.